System and method of tokenizing patents

ABSTRACT

We are tokenizing patent ownership. This opens up transactions that simply are not possible today. The special purpose vehicle (SPV) is like a ‘trust’ that exists to hold and execute the patent transactions on the owner side without the owner being involved. The smart contract has self-executing elements and handles trust issues. The invention utilizes artificial intelligence (AI).

PRIORITY CLAIMS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/685,299, filed Jun. 15, 2018. This application alsoclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/685,937, filed Jun. 16, 2018. This application also claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/685,960, filedJun. 16, 2018. This application also claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 62/689,241, filed Jun. 24, 2018. Thisapplication also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication No. 62/695,002, filed Jul. 7, 2018. This application alsoclaims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.62/695,126, filed Jul. 8, 2018. This application also claims the benefitof U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/696,357, filed Jul. 11,2018. This application also claims the benefit of International PatentApplication Number PCT/US2018/56884, filed on Oct. 22, 2018. Thisapplication also claims the benefit of International Patent ApplicationNumber PCT/US2018/57062, filed on Oct. 23, 2018. This application alsoclaims the benefit of International Patent Application NumberPCT/US2018/59174, filed on Nov. 5, 2018. This application also claimsthe benefit of International Patent Application Number PCT/US2018/61448,filed on Nov. 16, 2018. This application also claims the benefit ofInternational Patent Application Number PCT/US2018/64186, filed on Dec.6, 2018. This application also claims the benefit of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 16/216,776, filed Dec. 11, 2018. This applicationalso claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/257,006,filed Jan. 24, 2019. This application also claims the benefit of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/384,524, filed Apr. 15, 2019, each ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention deals with patent ownership. The problem is the currentpatent ownership system has limitations and drawbacks. The socialbargain supporting patents is simple: promote disclosure to permitothers to build on your technology. You disclose your novel inventionand for that disclosure you are given exclusive rights for 20 years fromthe application filing date.

Patents are often analogized to real estate, and indeed there are manysimilarities. The owner of a patent has a right to exclude unauthorizedusers of the invention, just as the owner of property has the right toexclude trespassers. National patent offices are supposed to containrecords that provide notice of patent ownership and the scope of theowner's intellectual property, just as public filings are supposed tomemorialize who owns a parcel of real estate while defining its metesand bounds. Searching national databases to identify patents and patentowners is critically important for millions of annual users in order todetermine: (1) if a patent exists on particular technology; (2) who ownsa particular patent that you may have discovered; (3) clean chain oftitle in every transaction where a patent is involved, including when apatent is bought, sold, licensed or part of a financed either in anindependent transaction or as part of a larger corporate transaction;(4) true patent ownership in every lawsuit to ensure that the partyasserting infringement has the right to do so; and (5) who to contact inorder to obtain a license or acquire patented technology. The concept ofpatents has existed for thousands of years and the legal frameworks tosupport patents have existed since the fifteenth century. Today, thereare about 20 million patents globally that are granted by over 200independent national patent offices that exist in each country thatgrants patents.

Patents are a critically important asset class supporting $2 trillion inannual global R&D spending. Governments spend billions of dollars peryear on patent regulation on top of the billions spent to promoteinnovation. Inventors and patent owners spend billions of dollars peryear on seeking, filing, obtaining, maintaining and analyzing patents.The asset class is often delegated to the wrong asset managers. Anorganized patent market does not exist today—the “market” consists of aseries of one off transactions. The overall market is characterized by alack of transparency, incredible inefficiency and staggeringintermediary and transactional costs that depress transaction volumesand represents significant costs and lost benefit to society.Intermediary functions—like payment of fees to maintain a patent ineffect and royalty processing services—are extremely high and simply addbillions to the cost of owning, maintaining and utilizing a patent.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

We are tokenizing patents. We are tokenizing patent ownership. Thisopens up transactions that simply are not possible today. The specialpurpose vehicle (SPV) is like a ‘trust’ that exists to hold and executethe patent transactions on the owner side without the owner beinginvolved. The smart contract has self-executing elements and handlestrust issues. The invention utilizes artificial intelligence (AI). Weare tokenizing patent-based lending. We are tokenizing patentmonetization.

The present invention features a Global Patent Registry, which is ablockchain-enabled registry that is a freely accessible record of theworld's patents and their owners. There is no single accurate centraldatabase of all of the world's 20 million patents. There are ˜200national patent offices, one for each country with patents, and 10regional patent offices with different rules and procedures. Many ofthese databases for individual counties, including the USPTO PAIR systemfor US patents, require special credentials to access. Even GooglePatents only covers 23 national patent offices. Determining patentownership is difficult and expensive, not all patent offices even trackownership information and those that do (the US, for example) have errorrates in patent ownership estimated at over 30%. There is no StandardIndustrial Classification (SIC) or similar code for patent owners—thesame company may hold patents in multiple subsidiary names and neveridentify the parent entity. The current process of verifying patentownership is prohibitively expensive, often requiring the assistance oflegal counsel to navigate complicated records. These high costs anderror rates are depressing transaction volumes and reducing the value ofpatents because the simple tasks of identifying a patent and its ownerare expensive and complex.

Utilizing blockchain solutions, we are able to use the Global PatentRegistry to create a single, freely accessible record of the world'spatents and who owns them. There are three levels of verification:patent ownership as indicated by the records obtained from the nationalpatent offices; patent ownership based on the records obtained from thenational patent offices as confirmed by predictive analytics solutions;and patent ownership based on analysis as confirmed by the patent ownerand owner verification.

The present invention also features an AI powered patent analytics toolto determine whether a patent exists in a particular technology area andwhat specific aspect of the technology the patent covers is expensiveand complicated and traditionally requires extensive and expensiveintermediary involvement. Important issues like validity and relevancyare quickly and efficiently performed by the analytics engine. Utilizingartificial intelligence and sophisticated database management methodsthe analytics engine can offer answers about patents in a quick,efficient and inexpensive manner, including patent valuation throughestablishing a value (transfer pricing) for a particular patent.

The present invention can accommodate everything from simple to highlycomplex transactions and facilitate various other engagements andtransactions relevant to the patent ecosystem. Much of the problem todayis that it is simply complicated, expensive and difficult to transactpatents. Intermediary costs are extremely high and transactions aredifficult to execute. As a result, smaller transactions are simply noteconomically viable and, therefore, do not occur. Even larger valuetransaction volumes are depressed as a result of these costs andinefficiencies. A target opportunity for the IPwe Platform is thefacilitate transactions with respect to lower value patents thatpreviously were unlikely to transact as the associated intermediarycosts rendered such transactions not economically viable. Most of theworld's patents are efficiently priced at lower values.

Paying a maintenance fee (the typical annual fee a patent office chargesto keep a patent in effect) is expensive and complicated. One of theearly revenue opportunities is to use the present invention to massivelyreduce patent maintenance fee costs patent offices want to encourage thepayment of maintenance fees, and patent owners want a less expensivesolution. Royalty administration, monitoring and financing are expensiveand blockchain will have significant implications in terms of accuracyand lower costs. The present invention is able to handle traditionalpatent transactions, including but not limited to: licensing;acquisition and disposition; annuity payments; royalty administrationand monitoring; pooling; and commercialization. Solving these problemswill facilitate traditional transactions and encourage new transactionopportunities by addressing significant issues that will broadly benefitmultiple participants in the global patent ecosystem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The various embodiments are illustrated by way of example, and not byway of limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings. Havingthus described the invention in general terms, reference will now bemade to the accompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn toscale, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an illustration depicting an exemplary operating environmentincluding one or more user computers, computing devices, or processingdevices, which can be used to operate a client, such as a dedicatedapplication, web browser is shown.

FIG. 2 is another illustration depicting an exemplary operatingenvironment including a computer system with various elements as shown.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of one aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the overall infrastructure of the presentinvention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the patent grant process of the presentinvention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of the patent sale assignment process of the presentinvention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of the patent license agreement process of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of the patent pool process of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the patent-based lending process of the presentinvention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of the tokenized patent-based lending process ofthe present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of the tokenized patent monetization process of thepresent invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram of the defensive aggregation process of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of the mutual non-aggression pact process of thepresent invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of the patent grant process of the presentinvention incorporating blockchain technology.

FIG. 15 is a diagram of the patent assignment process of the presentinvention incorporating blockchain technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including as aprocess; an apparatus; a system; a composition of matter; a computerprogram product embodied on a computer readable storage medium; and/or aprocessor, such as a processor configured to execute instructions storedon and/or provided by a memory coupled to the processor. In thisspecification, these implementations, or any other form that theinvention may take, may be referred to as techniques. In general, theorder of the steps of disclosed processes may be altered within thescope of the invention. Unless stated otherwise, a component such as aprocessor or a memory described as being configured to perform a taskmay be implemented as a general component that is temporarily configuredto perform the task at a given time or a specific component that ismanufactured to perform the task. As used herein, the term ‘processor’refers to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing coresconfigured to process data, such as computer program instructions.

A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the invention isprovided below along with accompanying figures that illustrate theprinciples of the invention. The invention is described in connectionwith such embodiments, but the invention is not limited to anyembodiment. The scope of the invention is limited only by the claims andthe invention encompasses numerous alternatives, modifications andequivalents. Numerous specific details are set forth in the followingdescription in order to provide a thorough understanding of theinvention. These details are provided for the purpose of example and theinvention may be practiced according to the claims without some or allof these specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technicalmaterial that is known in the technical fields related to the inventionhas not been described in detail so that the invention is notunnecessarily obscured.

The units described above can be implemented as software componentsexecuting on one or more general purpose processors, as hardware such asprogrammable logic devices and/or Application Specific IntegratedCircuits designed to perform certain functions or a combination thereof.In some embodiments, the units can be embodied by a form of softwareproducts which can be stored in a nonvolatile storage medium (such asoptical disk, flash storage device, mobile hard disk, etc.), including anumber of instructions for making a computer device (such as personalcomputers, servers, network equipment, etc.) implement the methodsdescribed in the embodiments of the present invention. The units may beimplemented on a single device or distributed across multiple devices.The functions of the units may be merged into one another or furthersplit into multiple sub-units.

The methods or algorithmic steps described in light of the embodimentsdisclosed herein can be implemented using hardware, processor-executedsoftware modules, or combinations of both. Software modules can beinstalled in random-access memory (RAM), memory, read-only memory (ROM),electrically programmable ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM,registers, hard drives, removable disks, CD-ROM, or any other forms ofstorage media known in the technical field.

Persons of ordinary skill in the art are able to understand that all orportions of the steps in the embodiments described above may be realizedusing programs instructing the relevant hardware, and said programs canbe stored on computer-readable storage media, such as a read-onlymemory, hard disk or compact disc. Optionally, all or portions of thesteps of the embodiments described above may also be realized using oneor multiple integrated circuits. Accordingly, the various modules/unitscontained in the embodiments above may also be realized in the form ofhardware or software function modules. Thus, the present application isnot limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The present application may have a variety of other embodiments and,without departing from the spirit and substance of the presentapplication, persons skilled in the art may produce a variety ofcorresponding changes and modifications based on the presentapplication, but these corresponding changes and modifications shall allfall within the scope of protection of the claims of this application.

Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in some detailfor purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention is not limitedto the details provided. There are many alternative ways of implementingthe invention. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative and notrestrictive.

While the invention has been described in detail and with reference tospecific embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that various changes and modifications can be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Thus, it isintended that the present invention cover the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplaryoperating environment in which embodiments of the present invention maybe implemented. The system 100 can include one or more user computers,computing devices, or processing devices 112, 114, 116, 118, which canbe used to operate a client, such as a dedicated application, webbrowser, etc. The user computers 112, 114, 116, 118 can be generalpurpose personal computers (including, merely by way of example,personal computers and/or laptop computers running a standard operatingsystem), cell phones or PDAs (running mobile software and beingInternet, e-mail, SMS, Blackberry, or other communication protocolenabled), and/or workstation computers running any of a variety ofcommercially-available UNIX or UNIX-like operating systems (includingwithout limitation, the variety of GNU/Linux operating systems). Theseuser computers 112, 114, 116, 118 may also have any of a variety ofapplications, including one or more development systems, database clientand/or server applications, and Web browser applications. Alternatively,the user computers 112, 114, 116, 118 may be any other electronicdevice, such as a thin-client computer, Internet-enabled gaming system,and/or personal messaging device, capable of communicating via a network(e.g., the network 110 described below) and/or displaying and navigatingWeb pages or other types of electronic documents. Although the exemplarysystem 100 is shown with four user computers, any number of usercomputers may be supported.

In most embodiments, the system 100 includes some type of network 110.The network can be any type of network familiar to those skilled in theart that can support data communications using any of a variety ofcommercially-available protocols, including without limitation TCP/IP,SNA, IPX, AppleTalk, and the like. Merely by way of example, the network110 can be a local area network (“LAN”), such as an Ethernet network, aToken-Ring network and/or the like; a wide-area network; a virtualnetwork, including without limitation a virtual private network (“VPN”);the Internet; an intranet; an extranet; a public switched telephonenetwork (“PSTN”); an infra-red network; a wireless network (e.g., anetwork operating under any of the IEEE 802.11 suite of protocols, GRPS,GSM, UMTS, EDGE, 2G, 2.5G, 3G, 4G, Wimax, WiFi, CDMA 2000, WCDMA, theBluetooth protocol known in the art, and/or any other wirelessprotocol); and/or any combination of these and/or other networks.

The system may also include one or more server computers 102, 104, 106which can be general purpose computers, specialized server computers(including, merely by way of example, PC servers, UNIX servers,mid-range servers, mainframe computers rack-mounted servers, etc.),server farms, server clusters, or any other appropriate arrangementand/or combination. One or more of the servers (e.g., 106) may bededicated to running applications, such as a business application, a Webserver, application server, etc. Such servers may be used to processrequests from user computers 112, 114, 116, 118. The applications canalso include any number of applications for controlling access toresources of the servers 102, 104, 106.

The Web server can be running an operating system including any of thosediscussed above, as well as any commercially-available server operatingsystems. The Web server can also run any of a variety of serverapplications and/or mid-tier applications, including HTTP servers, FTPservers, CGI servers, database servers, Java servers, businessapplications, and the like. The server(s) also may be one or morecomputers which can be capable of executing programs or scripts inresponse to the user computers 112, 114, 116, 118. As one example, aserver may execute one or more Web applications. The Web application maybe implemented as one or more scripts or programs written in anyprogramming language, such as Java®, C, C# or C++, and/or any scriptinglanguage, such as Perl, Python, or TCL, as well as combinations of anyprogramming/scripting languages. The server(s) may also include databaseservers, including without limitation those commercially available fromOracle®, Microsoft®, Sybase®, IBM® and the like, which can processrequests from database clients running on a user computer 112, 114, 116,118.

The system 100 may also include one or more databases 120. Thedatabase(s) 120 may reside in a variety of locations. By way of example,a database 120 may reside on a storage medium local to (and/or residentin) one or more of the computers 102, 104, 106, 112, 114, 116, 118.Alternatively, it may be remote from any or all of the computers 102,104, 106, 112, 114, 116, 118, and/or in communication (e.g., via thenetwork 110) with one or more of these. In a particular set ofembodiments, the database 120 may reside in a storage-area network(“SAN”) familiar to those skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessaryfiles for performing the functions attributed to the computers 102, 104,106, 112, 114, 116, 118 may be stored locally on the respective computerand/or remotely, as appropriate. In one set of embodiments, the database120 may be a relational database, such as Oracle 10 g, that is adaptedto store, update, and retrieve data in response to SQL-formattedcommands.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary computer system 200, in whichembodiments of the present invention may be implemented. The system 200may be used to implement any of the computer systems described above.The computer system 200 is shown comprising hardware elements that maybe electrically coupled via a bus 224. The hardware elements may includeone or more central processing units (CPUs) 202, one or more inputdevices 204 (e.g., a mouse, a keyboard, etc.), and one or more outputdevices 206 (e.g., a display device, a printer, etc.). The computersystem 200 may also include one or more storage devices 208. By way ofexample, the storage device(s) 208 can include devices such as diskdrives, optical storage devices, solid-state storage device such as arandom access memory (“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), whichcan be programmable, flash-updateable and/or the like.

The computer system 200 may additionally include a computer-readablestorage media reader 212, a communications system 214 (e.g., a modem, anetwork card (wireless or wired), an infra-red communication device,etc.), and working memory 218, which may include RAM and ROM devices asdescribed above. In some embodiments, the computer system 200 may alsoinclude a processing acceleration unit 216, which can include a digitalsignal processor DSP, a special-purpose processor, and/or the like. Thecomputer-readable storage media reader 212 can further be connected to acomputer-readable storage medium 210, together (and, optionally, incombination with storage device(s) 208) comprehensively representingremote, local, fixed, and/or removable storage devices plus storagemedia for temporarily and/or more permanently containing, storing,transmitting, and retrieving computer-readable information. Thecommunications system 214 may permit data to be exchanged with thenetwork and/or any other computer described above with respect to thesystem 200.

The computer system 200 may also comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within a working memory 218, including anoperating system 220 and/or other code 222, such as an applicationprogram (which may be a client application, Web browser, mid-tierapplication, RDBMS, etc.). It should be appreciated that alternateembodiments of a computer system 200 may have numerous variations fromthat described above. For example, customized hardware might also beused and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware,software (including portable software, such as applets), or both.Further, connection to other computing devices such as networkinput/output devices may be employed.

Storage media and computer readable media for containing code, orportions of code, can include any appropriate media known or used in theart, including storage media and communication media, such as but notlimited to volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable mediaimplemented in any method or technology for storage and/or transmissionof information such as computer readable instructions, data structures,program modules, or other data, including RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memoryor other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disk (DVD) orother optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic diskstorage or other magnetic storage devices, data signals, datatransmissions, or any other medium which can be used to store ortransmit the desired information and which can be accessed by thecomputer. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, aperson of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate other ways and/ormethods to implement the various embodiments.

As discussed above, embodiments are suitable for use with the Internet,which refers to a specific global internetwork of networks. However, itshould be understood that other networks can be used instead of theInternet, such as an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network(VPN), a non-TCP/IP based network, any LAN or WAN or the like.

FIG. 2 further illustrates an environment where an on-demand distributeddatabase service might be used. As illustrated in FIG. 2 user systemsmight interact via a network with an on-demand database. Some on-demanddatabases may store information from one or more records stored intotables of one or more distributed database images to form a databasemanagement system (DBMS). Accordingly, on-demand database and systemwill be used interchangeably herein. A database image may include one ormore database objects. A relational database management system (RDMS) orthe equivalent may execute storage and retrieval of information againstthe database object(s). Some on-demand database services may include anapplication platform that enables creation, managing and executing oneor more applications developed by the provider of the on-demand databaseservice, wherein users accesses the on-demand database service via usersystems, or third-party application developers access the on-demanddatabase service via user systems.

The security of a particular user system might be entirely determined bypermissions (permission levels) for the current user. For example, wherea user account identification transaction may involve a portableidentification alpha-numeric data field physically or digitally linkedto a personal primary identification device to request services from aprovider account and wherein the user is using a particular user systemto interact with System, that user system has the permissions allottedto that user account. However, while an administrator is using that usersystem to interact with System, that user system has the permissionsallotted to that administrator. In systems with a hierarchical rolemodel, users at one permission level may have access to applications,data, and database information accessible by a lower permission leveluser, but may not have access to certain applications, databaseinformation, and data accessible by a user at a higher permission level.Thus, different users will have different permissions with regard toaccessing and modifying application and database information, dependingon a user's security or permission level.

A network can be a LAN (local area network), WAN (wide area network),wireless network, point-to-point network, star network, token ringnetwork, hub network, or other appropriate configuration. As the mostcommon type of network in current use is a TCP/IP (Transfer ControlProtocol and Internet Protocol) network such as the global internetworkof networks often referred to as the “Internet” with a capital “I,” thatwill be used in many of the examples herein. However, it should beunderstood that the networks that the present invention might use arenot so limited, although TCP/IP is a frequently implemented protocol.

User systems might communicate with a system using TCP/IP and, at ahigher network level, use other common Internet protocols tocommunicate, such as HTTP, FTP, AFS, WAP, etc. In an example where HTTPis used, a user system might include an HTTP client commonly referred toas a “browser” for sending and receiving HTTP messages to and from anHTTP server at System. Such HTTP server might be implemented as the solenetwork interface between a system and network, but other techniquesmight be used as well or instead. In some implementations, the interfacebetween a system and network includes load sharing functionality, suchas round-robin HTTP request distributors to balance loads and distributeincoming HTTP requests evenly over a plurality of servers. At least asfor the users that are accessing that server, each of the plurality ofservers has access to at least one third party entity system dataschema; however, other alternative configurations are contemplated.

According to one arrangement, each user system and all of its componentsare operator configurable using applications, such as a browser,including computer code run using a central processing unit such as anIntel Pentium® processor or the like. Similarly, a computer system (andadditional instances of an enterprise database, where more than one ispresent) and all of their components might be operator configurableusing application(s) including computer code run using a centralprocessing unit such as an Intel Pentium® processor or the like, ormultiple processor units. A computer program product aspect includes amachine-readable storage medium (media) having instructions storedthereon/in which can be used to program a computer to perform any of theprocesses of the embodiments described herein. Computer code foroperating and configuring systems to intercommunicate and to process webpages, applications and other data and media content as described hereinis preferably downloaded and stored on a hard disk, but the entireprogram code, or portions thereof, may also be locally stored in anyother volatile or non-volatile memory medium or device as is well known,such as a ROM or RAM, or provided on any media capable of storingprogram code, such as any type of rotating media including floppy disks,optical discs, digital versatile disk (DVD), compact disk (CD),microdrive, and magneto-optical disks, and magnetic or optical cards,nanosystems (including molecular memory ICs), or any type of media ordevice suitable for storing instructions and/or data.

Additionally, the entire program code, or portions thereof, may betransmitted and downloaded from a software source over a transmissionmedium, e.g., over the Internet, or from another server, as is wellknown, or transmitted over any other conventional network connection asis well known (e.g., extranet, VPN, LAN, etc.) using any communicationmedium and protocols (e.g., TCP/IP, HTTP, HTTPS, Ethernet, etc.) as arewell known. It will also be appreciated that computer code forimplementing aspects of the present invention can be implemented in anyprogramming language that can be executed on a client system and/orserver or server system such as, for example, in C, C++, HTML, any othermarkup language, Java™, JavaScript, ActiveX, any other scriptinglanguage such as VBScript, and many other programming languages as arewell known. (Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.).

In one embodiment, the present invention contains a method oftransactions wherein all fees, payments, purchases, and services aretransacted using virtual currency, or cryptocurrency. The Network canfurther reward various stakeholders for participation within the networkusing the same cryptocurrency tokens. Each token can be traded ortransacted using various systems and converted to FIAT currency. Such asystem is applicable as a blockchain network.

A block chain or blockchain is a distributed database that maintains alist of data records, the security of which is enhanced by thedistributed nature of the block chain. A block chain typically includesseveral nodes, which may be one or more systems, machines, computers,databases, data stores or the like operably connected with one another.In some cases, each of the nodes or multiple nodes are maintained bydifferent entities. A block chain typically works without a centralrepository or single administrator. One well-known application of ablock chain is the public ledger of transactions for cryptocurrenciessuch as used in bitcoin. The data records recorded in the block chainare enforced cryptographically and stored on the nodes of the blockchain.

A block chain provides numerous advantages over traditional databases. Alarge number of nodes of a block chain may reach a consensus regardingthe validity of a transaction contained on the transaction ledger. Theblockchain typically has two primary types of records. The first type isthe transaction type, which consists of the actual data stored in theblock chain. The second type is the block type, which are records thatconfirm when and in what sequence certain transactions became recordedas part of the block chain. Transactions are created by participantsusing the block chain in its normal course of business, for example,when someone sends cryptocurrency to another person), and blocks arecreated by users known as “miners” who use specializedsoftware/equipment to create blocks. In some embodiments, the blockchain system disclosed, SS the number of miners in the current systemare known and the system comprises primary sponsors that generate andcreate the new blocks of the system. As such, any block may be worked onby a primary sponsor. Users of the block chain create transactions thatare passed around to various nodes of the block chain. A “valid”transaction is one that can be validated based on a set of rules thatare defined by the particular system implementing the block chain. Forexample, in the case of cryptocurrencies, a valid transaction is onethat is digitally signed, spent from a valid digital wallet and, in somecases, that meets other criteria.

In one embodiment, the Network is made up of a plurality of nodes, eachnode connected to another node in the plurality of nodes, having theability to pass data to each of the connected plurality of nodes. Atleast one node of the plurality of nodes is connected to an existingblockchain. Using this existing blockchain, the decentralizedtransactions can take place.

FIG. 3 depicts one aspect of the present invention. Specifically, theillustration shows the interconnection of each node 301 in a distributeddecentralized network 300. In accordance with the preferred embodimentof the present invention, each node 301 in the distributed network 300is directly connected to at least two other nodes 302. This allows eachnode 301 to transact with at least one other node 301 in the network.

In one embodiment, each transaction (or a block of transactions) isincorporated, confirmed, verified, included, or otherwise validated intothe blockchain via a consensus protocol. Consensus is a dynamic methodof reaching agreement regarding any transaction that occurs in adecentralized system. In one embodiment, a distributed hierarchicalregistry is provided for device discovery and communication. Thedistributed hierarchical registry comprises a plurality of registrygroups at a first level of the hierarchical registry, each registrygroup comprising a plurality of registry servers. The plurality ofregistry servers in a registry group provide services comprisingreceiving client update information from client devices, and respondingto client lookup requests from client devices. The plurality of registryservers in each of the plurality of registry groups provide the servicesusing, at least in part, a quorum consensus protocol.

The above illustrations provide many different embodiments forimplementing different features of the invention. Specific embodimentsof components and processes are described to help clarify the invention.These are, of course, merely embodiments and are not intended to limitthe invention from that described in the claims. In one embodiment, eachtransaction (or a block of transactions) is incorporated, confirmed,verified, included, or otherwise validated into the blockchain via aconsensus protocol. Consensus is a dynamic method of reaching agreementregarding any transaction that occurs in a decentralized system. In oneembodiment, a distributed hierarchical registry is provided for devicediscovery and communication. The distributed hierarchical registrycomprises a plurality of registry groups at a first level of thehierarchical registry, each registry group comprising a plurality ofregistry servers. The plurality of registry servers in a registry groupprovide services comprising receiving client update information fromclient devices, and responding to client lookup requests from clientdevices. The plurality of registry servers in each of the plurality ofregistry groups provide the services using, at least in part, a quorumconsensus protocol.

As another example, a method is provided for device discovery andcommunication using a distributed hierarchical registry. The methodcomprises Broadcasting a request to identify a registry server,receiving a response from a registry server, and sending client updateinformation to the registry server. The registry server is part of aregistry group of the distributed hierarchical registry, and theregistry group comprises a plurality of registry servers. The registryserver updates other registry servers of the registry group with theclient update information using, at least in part a quorum consensusprotocol.

As another example, a computer-readable medium comprising computerexecutable instructions for causing a client device to perform a methodfor device discovery and communication is provided, the methodcomprising broadcasting a request to identify a registry server,receiving a response from a registry server, and sending client updateinformation to the registry server. The registry server is part of aregistry group of the distributed hierarchical registry, where theregistry group comprises a plurality of registry servers. The registryserver updates other registry servers of the registry group with theclient update information using, at least in part, a quorum consensusprotocol.

In some embodiments, the system is further able to conserve network andcomputing resources by securely storing information associated with userdata, preventing potential malicious activity involving suchinformation, conserving bandwidth, memory, and computation resources. Adigital wallet is software and hardware (or specifically designedhardware) that allows an individual to make electronic commercetransactions that use, a blockchain. The digital wallet is a datastructure that can include a private key (e.g., that is only known tothe holder of the wallet) and a series of identifiers (sometimes calledwallet identifiers, blockchain identifier, or walletIDs herein) thathave been generated based on the private key. These identifiers are usedto allow other users to “send” transactions, which are recorded on theblockchain, to that identifier. For example, the above novation processcreates two blockchain transactions for a trade between Publisher(“Party A”) and the distributed decentralized network administrator(“Party B”). A first blockchain transaction may be from the wallet ofparty A to the wallet of the Party B. A second blockchain transactionmay be from the wallet of the Party B to a wallet of party A. Thesetransactions may be separately generated and submitted to theblockchain. Alternatively, the blockchain may only have one “wallet”that is being used for interacting with the blockchain. Other types ofimplementations may also be possible (e.g., where different parties, ortheir respective computer systems, use their own keys for a centralblockchain). In certain embodiments, the wallets may be centrallymanaged by the distributed decentralized network computer system thatthe parties associated with the trade. However, the transactionsrecorded to the blockchain may still be signed by or otherwiseassociated with the individual wallets of the patent stakeholders.

A computer process typically includes an executing (running) program orportion of a program, current program values and state information, andthe resources used by the operating system to manage the execution ofthe process. An operating system (OS) is the software that manages thesharing of the resources of a computer and provides programmers with aninterface used to access those resources. An operating system processessystem data and user input and responds by allocating and managing tasksand internal system resources as a service to users and programs of thesystem.

The computer system may for instance include at least one processingunit, associated memory and a number of input/output (I/O) devices. Whenexecuting the computer program, the computer system processesinformation according to the computer program and produces resultantoutput information via I/O devices. The present technology requires adata processing system with sufficient memory and processing power tostore and recall user data in real time. In addition, the invention maybe implemented in a computer program for running on a computer system,at least including code portions for performing steps of a methodaccording to the invention when run on a programmable apparatus, such asa computer system or enabling a programmable apparatus to performfunctions of a device or system according to the invention. The computerprogram may cause the storage system to allocate disk drives to diskdrive groups. In particular, the distributed decentralized networkdiscussed herein must be capable of analyzing user and bid data in amanner that can optimize the bidding process.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of the overall infrastructure of the presentinvention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the overall infrastructure of the present invention 400 hasthe ability to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) and blockchain to enablethe patent asset class. The infrastructure 400 encompasses four maincomponents: the IP platform 402; SmartContracts 404; the analyticsengine 406; and the Global Patent Registry 408. The platform embodiment402 of the present invention 400 is an operational blockchain-poweredtransactional platform that can provide everything that the patentecosystem needs to maintain and transact in patents, including but notlimited to: acquisitions; defensive aggregation; financing; insurance;lending; licensing; maintenance fees; mutual non-aggression pooling;sales; tokenization; and other transactions. The SmartContractsembodiment 404 of the present invention 400 is designed and implementedon hyperledger by the world's leading experts on patent transactions.The analytics embodiment 406 of the present invention 400 leverages thepower of AI to provide detailed answers to a wide range of questionsconcerning patents. The Global Patent Registry embodiment 408 of thepresent invention 400 is a blockchain enabled registry of all patentsavailable worldwide, and is able to provide full transparency in patentidentification and ownership.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of how payment annuities are facilitated using thepresent invention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention 500, once the patent office 502 has granted a patentto a patent owner 504, the global patent registry 506 is updated and thepatent owner 504 pays the annuity fee to the patent office 502. Thesmart contracts embodiment 508 of the present invention 500 is then usedfor identification of patents and patent owners as well as the paymentof annuities. The present invention 100 updates the global patentregistry 506 and subsequently handles all analytics 510, annuitypayments and patent contracts on behalf of the patent owner.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of patent sale and assignment transactions using thepresent invention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention 600, the patent seller 602 sells patents to a patentacquirer 604 and receives funds from the patent sale. The patent office606 then receives the assignment information and the global patentregistry 608 is updated. The smart contracts 610 embodiment of thepresent invention 600 governs the identification of the patents andtitle updates, automatic execution of the sale including payments andreversions on default, the terms of agreement of sale, and whether theterms are made public. The present invention 600 then provides updatesto the global patent registry 608, analysis of the sale 612, annuitypayments, title verification, sale agreements and transactional supportto the patent owner/seller 602.

FIG. 7 is a diagram of patent licensing using the present invention. Inaccordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention 700,the patent owner 702 licenses certain Licensees 704 under the selectedpatents. The Patent owner collects payments and royalties from theLicensees, and the licensing smart contracts embodiment 708 of thepresent invention is used to facilitate the identification of thepatents, execution and payment of the license agreement, the terms ofthe license agreement, and whether any terms are made public. Thepresent invention 700 provides an analysis 710, licensing agreements,title verification, reporting to the patent registry 706, annuitypayments, royalty administration and transactional support to the patentowner 702.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of the patent pooling process using the presentinvention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention 800, patent owners 802 give licensing rights to the patentpool administration 804 and set the terms. The patent pooladministration 804 grants licenses to licensees 806, collects royaltiesand redistributes those royalties to patent owners 802. The patent poolsmart contracts embodiment 808 governs the identification of patents andparties, the terms of the license, and revenue share among patentowners. The licensing smart contracts embodiment 810 governs automaticexecution and payments, identification of patents and parties, the termsof the license and whether terms are to be made public. The presentinvention 800 provides analytics 812, future tokenization opportunities,reporting to the global patent registry 814, royalty administration andtransactional support.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the patent-based lending process of the presentinvention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention 900, the patent owner 902 pledges patents to a lender 904. Thepatent owner 902 can then receive funds and reimburse the loan. Thepatent offices 906 are then informed about the pledge and release. Thesmart contracts 910 embodiment of the present invention 900 governs: theautomatic execution and payment; identification of all patents andrelated parties; and the terms of the loan. The present invention 900then provides updates to the global patent registry 908, analysis of thepatent 912, future tokenization opportunities and transactional supportto the patent owner 902 and lender 904.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of tokenized patent-based lending using the presentinvention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention 1000, the patent owner 1002 pledges patents to lenders 1004.The lenders then provide financing and the patent owner repays the loan.The patent office 1006 is informed about the pledge and release and thetoken exchange 1008 organizes the liquidity of the lender tokens 1010among investors 1012. The smart contracts embodiment 1014 of the presentinvention 1000 governs the automatic execution and payment of thepledge, identification of all patents and parties involved in thetransaction, the terms of the loan and the token holder's rights. Thepresent invention 1000 provides analytics of the transaction 1016,pledge agreements, reporting to the global patent registry 1018, annuitypayments, title verification, research and transactional support to thepatent owner 1002 and the lender 1004.

FIG. 11 is a diagram of tokenized patent monetization using the presentinvention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention 1100, the patent owner transfers 1102 the ownership ofselected patents to a Special Purpose Vehicle (“SPV”) 1104, and receivesfunds. The SPV 1104 sets rules of the licensing program to licensees1106 and collects royalty payments. The token exchange 1108 organizesthe liquidity of the monetization tokens 1110 among the investors/tokenholders 1112. The tokenization smart contract embodiment 1114 of thepresent invention 1100 governs the automatic execution and payment ofthe transaction, the identification of the patents and parties involvedin the transaction and the investor/token holder's 1112 rights. Thelicensing smart contract embodiment 1116 of the present inventiongoverns the automatic execution and payment of the transaction, theidentification of the patents and parties involved in the transaction,the terms of the license and whether any terms are made public. Thepresent invention 1100 provides analytics 1118 and transactionagreements, reporting of the transaction to the global patent registry1120, annuity payments, title verification and royalty administration tothe involved parties.

FIG. 12 is a diagram of patent defense aggregation using the presentinvention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention 1200, Non-Practicing Entities (“NPEs”) 1202 sell patents orlicensing rights to Defensive Patent Aggregation SPV 1204, which thengrants licenses to members 1206 and collects membership fees andpayments. The patent aggregation smart contracts embodiment 1208 governsautomatic execution and payments, identification of patents and parties,and the terms of the patent sale or licensing rights. The membershipsmart contracts embodiment 1210 governs membership automatic executionand payments, member rights in the SPV, and the terms of membership. Thepresent invention 1200 provides analytics 1212, reporting to the globalpatent registry 1214, royalty administration and transactional support.

FIG. 13 is a diagram of the mutual non-aggression pact process of thepresent invention. In accordance with the preferred embodiment of thepresent invention 1300, patent owners 1302 commit to grant a licenseunder their patents to all network members in case the patent ownerssell patents to a Non-Practicing Entity (NPE) 1304. In the event of sucha sale, licenses are granted to all network members 1302. The MutualNon-Aggression Administrator 1306 promotes the network, facilitatespledges, and collects membership fees from network members 1302. Themutual non-aggression SmartContract embodiment 1308 of the presentinvention 1300 governs the triggering of a license to all networkmembers under certain circumstances. The platform of the presentinvention 1300 provides an analysis of the transaction through theanalytics embodiment 1310, reporting to the Global Patent Registry 1312,and transactional support to patent owners and network members 1302.

FIG. 14 is a diagram of the patent grant process of the presentinvention incorporating blockchain technology. In accordance with thepreferred embodiment of the present invention 1400, communicationbetween the patent office 1402 and the patent owner 1404 is enabledthrough the patent granting SmartContract feature 1406 of the presentinvention 1400. All information is processed using a blockchain system1408, including updates made to the Global Patent Registry 1410, and alldata related to patent transactions 1412. The platform of the presentinvention 1400 uses the data collected through blockchain 1408 from thePatent Registry 1410 and transactions 1412 to provide an analysisthrough the analytics embodiment 1414.

FIG. 15 is a diagram of the patent assignment process of the presentinvention incorporating blockchain technology. In accordance with thepreferred embodiment of the present invention 1500, communicationbetween the existing patent owner/seller 1502 and the new patentowner/acquirer 1504 is enabled through the patent assignmentSmartContract feature 1506 of the present invention 1500. TheSmartContract feature 1506 is also able to send and receive data of thesale to patent offices 1508. All information is processed using ablockchain system 1510, including updates made to the Global PatentRegistry 1512, and all data related to patent transactions 1514. Theplatform of the present invention 1500 uses the data collected throughblockchain 1510 from the Patent Registry 1512 and transactions 1514 toprovide an analysis of the patent sale through the analytics embodiment1516.

While various embodiments of the disclosed technology have beendescribed above, it should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example only, and not of limitation. Likewise, the variousdiagrams may depict an example architectural or other configuration forthe disclosed technology, which is done to aid in understanding thefeatures and functionality that may be included in the disclosedtechnology. The disclosed technology is not restricted to theillustrated example architectures or configurations, but the desiredfeatures may be implemented using a variety of alternative architecturesand configurations. Indeed, it will be apparent to one of skill in theart how alternative functional, logical or physical partitioning andconfigurations may be implemented to implement the desired features ofthe technology disclosed herein. Also, a multitude of differentconstituent module names other than those depicted herein may be appliedto the various partitions. Additionally, with regard to flow diagrams,operational descriptions and method claims, the order in which the stepsare presented herein shall not mandate that various embodiments beimplemented to perform the recited functionality in the same orderunless the context dictates otherwise.

Although the disclosed technology is described above in terms of variousexemplary embodiments and implementations, it should be understood thatthe various features, aspects and functionality described in one or moreof the individual embodiments are not limited in their applicability tothe particular embodiment with which they are described, but instead maybe applied, alone or in various combinations, to one or more of theother embodiments of the disclosed technology, whether or not suchembodiments are described and whether or not such features are presentedas being a part of a described embodiment. Thus, the breadth and scopeof the technology disclosed herein should not be limited by any of theabove-described exemplary embodiments.

Terms and phrases used in this document, and variations thereof, unlessotherwise expressly stated, should be construed as open ended as opposedto limiting. As examples of the foregoing: the term “including” shouldbe read as meaning “including, without limitation” or the like; the term“example” is used to provide exemplary instances of the item indiscussion, not an exhaustive or limiting list thereof; the terms “a” or“an” should be read as meaning “at least one,” “one or more” or thelike; and adjectives such as “conventional,” “traditional,” “normal,”“standard,” “known” and terms of similar meaning should not be construedas limiting the item described to a given time period or to an itemavailable as of a given time, but instead should be read to encompassconventional, traditional, normal, or standard technologies that may beavailable or known now or at any time in the future. Likewise, wherethis document refers to technologies that would be apparent or known toone of ordinary skill in the art, such technologies encompass thoseapparent or known to the skilled artisan now or at any time in thefuture.

The presence of broadening words and phrases such as “one or more,” “atleast,” “but not limited to” or other like phrases in some instancesshall not be read to mean that the narrower case is intended or requiredin instances where such broadening phrases may be absent. The use of theterm “module” does not imply that the components or functionalitydescribed or claimed as part of the module are all configured in acommon package. Indeed, any or all of the various components of amodule, whether control logic or other components, may be combined in asingle package or separately maintained and can further be distributedin multiple groupings or packages or across multiple locations.

Additionally, the various embodiments set forth herein are described interms of exemplary block diagrams, flow charts and other illustrations.As will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art afterreading this document, the illustrated embodiments and their variousalternatives may be implemented without confinement to the illustratedexamples. For example, block diagrams and their accompanying descriptionshould not be construed as mandating a particular architecture orconfiguration.

While the present invention has been described with reference to one ormore preferred embodiments, which embodiments have been set forth inconsiderable detail for the purposes of making a complete disclosure ofthe invention, such embodiments are merely exemplary and are notintended to be limiting or represent an exhaustive enumeration of allaspects of the invention. The scope of the invention, therefore, shallbe defined solely by the following claims. Further, it will be apparentto those of skill in the art that numerous changes may be made in suchdetails without departing from the spirit and the principles of theinvention.

In the foregoing specification, the invention has been described withreference to specific examples of embodiments of the invention. It will,however, be evident that various modifications and changes may be madetherein without departing from the broader spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth in the appended claims. In the following detaileddescription, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the invention. However, it will beunderstood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knownmethods, procedures, and components have not been described in detail soas not to obscure the present invention.

Because the illustrated embodiments of the present invention may for themost part, be implemented using electronic components and circuits knownto those skilled in the art, details will not be explained in anygreater extent than that considered necessary as illustrated above, forthe understanding and appreciation of the underlying concepts of thepresent invention and in order not to obfuscate or distract from theteachings of the present invention. Any reference in the specificationto a method should be applied mutatis mutandis to a system capable ofexecuting the method and should be applied mutatis mutandis to anon-transitory computer readable medium that stores instructions thatonce executed by a computer result in the execution of the method.

Any reference in the specification to a system should be applied mutatismutandis to a method that may be executed by the system and should beapplied mutatis mutandis to a non-transitory computer readable mediumthat stores instructions that may be executed by the system. Anyreference in the specification to a non- transitory computer readablemedium should be applied mutatis mutandis to a system capable ofexecuting the instructions stored in the non-transitory computerreadable medium and should be applied mutatis mutandis to method thatmay be executed by a computer that reads the instructions stored in thenon-transitory computer readable medium. Any reference to “having”,“including” or “comprising” should be applied mutatis mutandis to“consisting” or “consisting essentially of.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A network comprising a plurality of nodes, eachnode in the plurality of nodes configured to transact with at least oneother node in the plurality of nodes, the network further comprising: atleast one hardware processor, a non-transitory machine-readable storagemedium having an executable computer readable program code, the at leastone hardware processor configured to execute the computer-readableprogram code to: receive, by the secure ledger network, a request tovalidate a smart contract that determines at least one rule for atransaction involving the distribution of the virtual currency, whereinan execution of the transaction comprises: receiving, by the secureledger network, a request to approve an exchange rate for at least onevirtual currency token in terms of FIAT currency; validating theexchange rate; updating a secure ledger maintained by the secure ledgernetwork with the smart contract; the smart contract further configuredwith at least one rule regarding the floating of the virtual currency;executing a smart contract; updating the secure ledger about thetransaction; and an evaluation engine, the engine capable of determiningthe value of an intellectual property asset in terms of virtualcurrency, said evaluation engine configured to update the smart contractregarding the value of the IP asset in terms of virtual currency.
 2. Thevirtual currency of claim 1, wherein a limited number of virtualcurrency tokens exist.
 3. The smart contract of claim 1, furtherprogrammed with a rule regarding the number of virtual currency tokensto disburse.
 4. The smart contract of claim 3, wherein the ruleregarding the amount of virtual currency tokens to float is dependent onthe existing value of the virtual currency token with respect to FIATcurrency.
 5. The smart contract of claim 3, wherein the rule regardingthe amount of virtual currency tokens to float is based on the length oftime the virtual currency has been available for use or trade.
 6. Thesmart contract of claim 3, wherein the rule regarding the amount ofvirtual currency tokens to float is based on the total number of virtualcurrency tokens available.
 7. The smart contract of claim 3, wherein therule regarding the amount of virtual currency tokens to disburse isbased on percentage of the total virtual currency tokens available isreleased.
 8. The network of claim 1, further configured as adecentralized network.
 9. The network of claim 1, further configured asa blockchain network.
 10. The secure ledger of claim 1, furtherconfigured as a public ledger.
 11. The secure ledger of claim 1, furtherconfigured as a private ledger.
 12. A method of tokenizing intellectualproperty assets, the method comprising: limiting the number of virtualcurrency tokens available to float; determining an initial amount ofvirtual currency tokens to float; programming a smart contract withrules regarding additional amount of tokens to float; recording thesmart contract on a network accessible by the public; analyzing the realtime value of the virtual currency token across several virtual currencyexchanges; and determining the value of an intellectual property assetin terms of the current value of the virtual currency token;
 13. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the rules in the smart contract are based onthe length of time the virtual currency has been available for use ortrade.
 14. The method of claim 12, wherein the rules of the smartcontract are based on the total number of virtual currency tokensavailable.
 15. The method of claim 12, wherein the rules of the smartcontract are based on the value of the virtual currency token.
 16. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the network is a blockchain network.
 17. Themethod of claim 12, wherein the smart contract rules disclose apercentage of virtual currency tokens to float.
 18. The method of claim12, wherein the smart contract rules disclose the number of virtualcurrency tokens to float.
 19. The method of claim 12, wherein thevirtual currency tokens are utility tokens.
 20. The method of claim 12,wherein the virtual currency tokens are security tokens.